1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a rotor or disc used in connection with a disc brake assembly, and, more particularly, relates to a brake rotor that is slanted relative to a wheel axis of rotation.
2. Background Art
Today's brake designers have the unenviable task of having to engineer brake systems, for example disc brake systems, with many of the design limitations already in place; e.g., a predetermined vehicle weight, and the height, width, and depth available for the proposed brake package already determined. For example, in the design of a disc brake assembly for a vehicle of a specified weight, a predetermined minimal rotor swept area (which impacts braking effectiveness) is required in order to meet safety and performance specifications. However, the effective radius of such a rotor (which in turn, places limits on the swept area) in such a system may be limited by, for example, the preselected wheel size and type, and, various suspension design choices that have already occurred and limit the space available for a disc brake assembly (the above-mentioned height, width, and depth). Thus, brake designers have the problem of meeting safety and performance specifications subject to these packaging limitations. Although not applicable in every braking system application, such packaging problems are becoming more prevalent as subsystem specialization in the automotive industry increases.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide an improved braking system that reduces or eliminates one or more of the problems as set forth above.